Company profile

Address Details

Ownership

Acciona

Acciona Agua is a division of Acciona S.A., a Spanish publicly listed group whose major shareholders are Tussen de Grachten BV (27.8%) and Entreazca BV (26.1%). As of 1 January 2014, the group structure was re-organised into two divisions. Water now forms part of the Construction, Water and Services division under Luis Castilla, who formerly led Acciona Agua. The group’s other division is focused on energy.

Company data

Acciona Agua had revenues of €409 million ($461 million) in 2014, a 17.2% decrease from 2013, due to reduced design-build activity that year.

Desalination interests

Acciona Agua’s references range from the design and construction of WTPs, WWTPs and desalination plants to the operation of concessions. The company’s desalination capabilities include EPC, O&M and BOT contracts. In terms of technology, the company has historically specialised in reverse osmosis (RO) membrane systems. Acciona Agua’s interest in desalination dates back to 2006, when the Acciona Group acquired Pridesa, a Spanish desalination specialist. Pridesa’s design-build and operational expertise was key in securing a number of international contracts including the 150,000 m³/d desalination plant in Beckton (UK), and the rehabilitation and operation of the 108,000 m³/d Tampa Bay desalination plant in Florida (USA).

Acciona Agua has been very active in its domestic market. Key projects include the flagship 240,000 m³/d Torrevieja SWRO plant, the largest plant awarded under the ambitious Spanish AGUA Programme, which included the latest technological advances and was a state-of-the-art plant.

Outside its domestic market, Acciona Agua has successfully entered various large international desalination markets. In 2009, the company made its major breakthrough in Australia by winning the 300,000 m³/d Adelaide desalination contract in partnership with water utility solutions provider United Utilities (rebranded as Trility). The company is present in the Algerian desalination market with the 20,000 m³/d SWRO plant at Fouka in Algeria completed in 2011. In addition, Acciona Agua was successful in entering the Middle East market in 2012, securing its first contracts in Saudi Arabia (EPC contract for a 100,000 m³/d desalination plant in Jubail) and the UAE (DBO contract for the Fujairah 1 IWPP expansion).

Acciona Agua has increased its desalination capacity in Latin America since 2008, mainly through industrial desalination contracts. In 2008, the company was awarded the Paraguana 75,000 m³/d desalination project in Venezuela for DVSA, Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum company. In addition, the company is becoming an important player in the Chilean desalination sector: it supplies water to the Chilean mining sector through the Punta Totoralillo SWRO plant in the Cerro Negro mining operation in Copiapo, which was awarded in 2011 by Chilean mining company CAP with an initial capacity of 17,000 m³/d. In 2014, Acciona was also awarded a contract for the upgrade of Codelco’s desalination plant at the Ministro Hales mining operation located in the Antofagasta region, which has a current capacity of 1,440 m³/d, as well as one O&M contract for the Cenizas Taltal 800 m³/d desalination plant for the SLM Las Cenizas mining company.

Strategy

Acciona Agua has long been considered one of the world’s leading desalination companies. Acciona Agua has carefully selected the opportunities it targets, focusing on projects which offer significant engineering challenges. 1.5% of the company’s annual turnover is earmarked for R&D and Acciona Agua’s technological capabilities are a key differentiating factor. In addition, the company is able to focus its resources on specific geographies and take advantage of upcoming opportunities after securing first contracts.

This strategy has recently been used in pursuing opportunities in DBO or EPC contracts for desalination plants to increase its presence in North America. In 2014, Acciona Agua made a move to target the North American market by redeploying its Australian water business development team to the USA and was shortlisted for the contract to rehabilitate the Charles Meyer desalination plant in Santa Barbara (California). In addition to utility projects, Acciona Agua is also interested in industrial contracts, particularly in the US mining sector where the company can benefit from its successful experience in the Chilean mining sector, which is likely to offer additional projects due to the large number of desalination projects which are in the pipeline.

Acciona Agua has increased its presence in the Middle East by winning its first contract in Oman in 2014. In a consortium with local firm Sogex Oman, Acciona Agua was awarded a 5 year contract to take over the operation and maintenance of a 20,000 m³/d desalination plant on behalf of the industrial utility for the Port of Sohar. Acciona Agua has set its sights on attaining a stronger presence in the Middle East and North Africa, and is exploring opportunities in central and southern Africa.

In addition, Acciona Agua plans to use its presence in India and Australia – through its major plant references in Perth and Adelaide – to identify new opportunities in Southeast Asia. Latin America is also among the company’s identified growth regions.